Meatballs & Sauce


I have been making these meatballs and sauce for a few years. The recipe below is loosely based on this recipe from Brown Eyed Baker. That being said, I figured it was about time I wrote it down to ensure I didn’t screw it up next time I made a batch. This makes a LARGE batch of both meatballs and sauce that I portion into quart sized ziplock bags and freeze for quick dinners. How many bags will depend on what dinner looks like for your family. I usually plan 6 meatballs for our family and portion accordingly.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Homemade Spaghetti Sauce:
    • 1/4 cup Olive Oil
    • 2 large sweet Onions, chopped
    • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
    • 106 oz can Italian Peeled Tomatoes (4 28 oz cans if you’re not shopping at Costco)
    • 3 Tbsp dried Parsley
    • 1 Tbsp dried Basil
    • Water from rinsing extra sauce and puree from inside of cans
    • 3 Tbsp Salt
    • 1/2 cup Sugar
    • 1/2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
  • Italian Meatballs:
    • 2 lbs Ground Beef
    • 2 lbs Pork Sausage
    • 4 Eggs
    • 1 Tbsp dried Italian parsley
    • 1 Tbsp Pasta Sprinkle
    • 4 cloves garlic, minced
    • 2 cups Italian bread crumbs, divided
    • 2 cups grated Romano cheese
    • 1 cup Milk
    • 1 tsp Salt
    • 1 tsp Garlic Powder
    • 1/2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
    • 1 tsp Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

  • Sauce:
    1. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium-low heat until onion is tender.
    2. Add tomato\es, parsley, basil, water, salt, and sugar.
    3. Stir and lower heat to a slow simmer. Using and immersion blender, puree tomatoes into a sauce.
    4. This best if it’s left to simmer for at least 2 hours.
  • Meatballs:
    1. Preheat oven to 450.
    2. Combine 1 cup of bread crumbs with milk and let soak for 10 minutes. Combine with all remaining ingredients. You can do this by hand or with large stand mixture, being careful not to over-mix.
    3. shape into balls. I use a medium sized scoop from Crate and Barrel.
    4. Cook for 20 minutes and then add to sauce to finish cooking. I prefer this method, as it gives extra flavor to both the meatballs and sauce.
    5. If you want to cook them the whole way in the oven, turn down head to 350 cook for 20 minutes, depending on size.
    6. I will also say I’ve been known to broil the meatballs, for either method, for 5 minutes to get them nice and brown before finishing.

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